


You, Expanding My World

by SylviaoftheDepths



Series: Walkin' In Time [1]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Non-Famous, Bullying, Chittaphon Leechaiyapornkul | Ten - Freeform, Dong Si Cheng | WinWin - Freeform, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Implied Suh Youngho | Johnny/Lee Taeyong/Qian Kun/Kim Dongyoung | Doyoung, Johnny is Mark's Older Brother, Kim Dongyoung | Doyoung - Freeform, Light Angst, M/M, Mark Lee (NCT) - Freeform, Minor Suh Youngho | Johnny/Lee Taeyong, Minor Suh Youngho | Johnny/Lee Taeyong/Kim Dongyoung | Doyoung, Multi, Park Jisung & Zhong Chen Le Are Best Friends, Professor!Moon Taeil, Qian Kun - Freeform, Side Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Mark Lee, Surprise Kissing, Wong Kun Hang | Hendery - Freeform, Wong Yuk Hei | Lucas - Freeform, Xiao De Jun | Xiao Jun - Freeform, lee taeyong - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-14
Updated: 2019-12-14
Packaged: 2021-02-26 00:08:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 20,694
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21704215
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SylviaoftheDepths/pseuds/SylviaoftheDepths
Summary: Jeno is a mostly silent fool, so either his stoic face causes misunderstandings or his words become few when he doesn't know how to deal with a situation.Yangyang is strong (mischievous really, Kun would say), but enough people tell him otherwise that he finds himself needing more kisses than usual.The Dream Trio (Haechan, Renjun, Jeno) are revered and feared all in the same breath, and no one asks what they really want. So if that's how it's going to be for them, they certainly don't make it any easier for others.Everyone else (the rest of Dream and WayV) are just along for the ride, honestly.
Relationships: Huang Ren Jun/Lee Jeno/Na Jaemin, Huang Ren Jun/Na Jaemin, Lee Jeno & Liu Yang Yang
Series: Walkin' In Time [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1821505
Comments: 2
Kudos: 48
Collections: ’00 FIC FEST: ROUND ONE





	You, Expanding My World

**Author's Note:**

> This was prompt #0036 in the collection. I'm not sure if I fulfilled all the requirements, but I tried really hard on this, so here's to hoping!
> 
>  **Prompt**  
>  Yangyang and Jeno are musical composition students and have this big team project coming, in which they need to produce 2 songs with 5 different voices and it'd be alright if they had friends who could sing, but they don't, so they're sitting there all sad and frustrated, until they remember the group of 3 friends from another career who are known for having great voices but also because they hate to use them, they hate to sing or rap. Jeno and Yangyang are sure those 3 are their salvation, if only they could manage to convince them to participate in their project…

Suddenly, out of nowhere, for no good reason, Lucas began to laugh. And like any sane person with a fully functioning brain working away at the rest of its body at a million miles a minute, everyone burst into laughter not a second after him.

Lucas' laugh was something contagious. It was the sort of laughter you couldn't ignore, loud, full-bodied, and filled with a sort of happiness that was so grand, it left no room for anyone to feel anything else. It was the sort of laugh one admired.

Sitting under the bright sun of the park, warm breeze rustling through their hair, it made Jeno and Yanyang feel better immediately, watching him from where they were sitting towards the back of the group, heads previously bowed and individual hands clasped together in the sort of grip that radiated worry.

They were worried alright.

They’d been given _the_ project every Musical Composition major looked forward to- their one genuine, semester-long composition assignment: Get into pairs and produce one song per person. Extra credit for a song produced by both. From the very instant the day had started, they’d looked at each other with excited expressions on their faces and just couldn’t quite seem to stop. Until their professor, one _fantastic_ Moon Taeil, dropped a bomb that ruined all their plans.

It may have been a pair project, but they needed at least five voices.

Jeno and Yangyang wouldn’t have minded. They would’ve gladly sang alongside their friends, _had_ , in fact, initially been planning to sing themselves anyway, from the very second they caught wind of the iconic first composition project.

Just one thing. No one in the group sang. Kun just mothered everyone, Ten’s dancing skills sucked up all the talent that could’ve been attributed elsewhere, WinWin’s charms laid in his cuteness, Lucas existed to make others laugh, Xiao Jun channeled his efforts into directing, and Hendery’s visuals were so strong, they seemed to have convinced his interests to stay off the entertainment path entirely.

And so now they were stuck. And Lucas was, unintentionally, cheering them up to the best of his ability.

“I guess we just have to work with it, huh?” Jeno chuckled softly, in that not-quite-low voice of his that always seemed to simultaneously send Yangyang’s heart fluttering and soothe him.

Yangyang cursed in German in an equally soft voice, uncharacteristic of his mischievous personality, but it was the bright sound of not minding the defeat one had been handed. “I guess so.”

“Hey!” Lucas’ voice boomed, startling both boys, “what are you two laughing about over there?”

“Actually,” Kun frowned, “why are you two sitting so far away? Come sit with us!”

Jeno sent a glance in Yangyang’s direction, as if saying, _How about it?_

His answer was received in the form of a wicked smirk, before the other boy was launching himself in the group’s direction, leaving everyone squealing.

Jeno smiled as he stood. They’d find their way around their limitations, somehow.

~

The answer came to Jeno the next day at the table, sitting down in the noisy lunchroom with his friends all arguing loudly about something around him, voices nearly managing to drown out the rest of the vast room’s with their volume.

“Hey,” he nudged Yangyang, “look.”

Yangyang followed Jeno’s gaze until he managed to focus on two young boys, calmly chatting together as they made their way across the lunchroom, food in hand and at least half the people in their vicinity staring adoringly after them.

“Zhong Chenle,” he asked, in a way only someone who could speak Chinese as fluently as if it were their own tongue could and it made something in Jeno’s chest twinge with the nativity of the sound, “and Park Jisung? Why are you showing me- oh.”

Zhong Chenle and Park Jisung themselves weren’t what was important- although many would vehemently disagree with the two if they ever heard their thoughts at that moment- but rather _who_ they were walking towards.

The Dream Team, as the entire campus knew the five of them, plus one other, or, in selective terms, the Dream Trio, owners of voices every Music Composition student would gladly die to work with: Huang Injoon, Lee Donghyuck, and Na Jaemin.

“You can’t mean-”

Jeno nodded and Yangyang stared with a blank, contemplative gaze in the Dream Team’s direction.

“Well, it can’t hurt to try, at least, right?”

With that, they stood together with a synchronicity that only came from years of knowing one another, startling their friends who were still (somehow) in the midst of arguing with each other after five entire minutes.

“What, where are you going?” Hendery asked, blessedly confused, gaze darting between the two of them.

“You still haven’t touched your food,” Kun chided gently, frowning at the plates in question.

“Oh! Can I have your chicken?” Lucas bellowed, catching sight of the food once Kun mentioned it. Their collective mother, who absolutely despised being called as such although, deep inside, he knew he was exactly that, sighed, ready to tell his loudest child off.

Jeno and Yangyang ignored them with an ease that was both the result of practice and streamlined focus and headed in the direction of who they hoped could possibly be their lights in the dark. Behind them, the familiar sound of Kun scolding Lucas spurred them on, encouraging them to return to their familiar corner of the broad, beige-themed room as soon as they could.

“Um.” Yangyang said once they’d reached the Dream Team's table. Conversation amongst the popular kids ceased as they turned to look at the two of them. Lee Donghyuck raised his eyebrow.

“Yes?”

Huang Injoon elbowed him, saying something about being rude to people. If they were anyone else, they would have faltered, apologized, and hurried away. As it was, Yangyang wouldn’t be deterred and beside him, Jeno was a solid, steadying presence.

“It’s nice to meet you. I’m Liu Yangyang and this is Lee Jeno. We’re Music Composition majors and we just got this project, so we were wondering: Would you be willing to work with us on it?”

“Ha?”

It was as if, all of a sudden, a switch had flipped. The Dream Team all stared at them, mouths gaping and everyone, the entire lunchroom, fell silent. The air was charged with a sort of silent tension, as if everyone was simultaneously was heavily invested in what was about to occur and trying to shy away from a public execution.

“You have some nerve to ask us, of all people.” Na Jaemin smirked, leaning back into his seat and slinging an arm around the back of it carelessly.

“Are you deaf, somehow?” Lee Donghyuck cut in. “Or just plain stupid? Were you dropped on your head somewhere?”

“That’s enough, Hyuck.” Huang Injoon said, but his voice was hard as he stared the two down with a gaze that very clearly communicated that he wasn’t one to take jokes and clearly that was what they were spouting.

“You think you’re funny?” Lee Donghyuck just went on, voice haughty, the sort that said, _You’re an ant and you’re in my way, move before I decide to soil my expensive boots with you underfoot,_ without actually saying it. “Pretending you know nothing about us so you can laugh about it later with your little friends?”

Jeno frowned, sensing the hostility in their air and made to step in front of his friend, who was also frowning.

“We know you have good voices. Good enough to make you famous.”

“Well listen here, since you seem to know it all-”

“Ah ha ha!” A desperate voice cut in, and suddenly, Xiao Jun was in between his friends and the Dream Team. “Are my friends disturbing you? We’re sorry, they don’t really have any social skills since they spend so much time with us, we wear them down, ha ha-”

“Xiao Jun-”

 _“- I’ll be taking them away now_ , sorry for wasting your time!”

“Please do,” Huang Injoon smiled coldly and Xiao Jun turned back to his friends, glaring a fierce sort of glare that Jeno and Yangyang rarely saw settle on his features.

“Xiao Ju-”

“Come _on_.”

No more words were exchanged, even after they reached their table, until they left the lunchroom.

~

 _“How could you not know those three_ hate _being asked to use their voices?”_ Hendery’s voice rang clear from Yangyang’s head into Jeno’s.

“Still, that doesn’t give them any reason to treat us like that!” Yangyang fumed, and Jeno made a sound of agreement, a frown still marring his usually gentle face. It only fueled Yangyang’s anger more, for putting such an expression on his best friend’s face, where there should have only been smiles.

The two were sitting on a bench, in a distant part of the campus where only a few people passed by, contemplating the incident under the light of the overhead Sun, dappled by the shadow of leaves from a nearby tree. If they placed their hands right, the Sun peaking through the leaves looked more like some kind of natural, sparkling sequins rather than a burning ball of gas.

“Something bothering you?” A voice spoke to their right, startling them. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you, it’s just that you two look so troubled, I figured I might as well ask. It’s okay if you think it’s weird of me, you don’t need to say anything! I’m just offering the ear of a stranger if you do.”

The voice belonged to a boy who seemed to be around their age, hair dyed brown, emitting an altogether homely sort of vibe. He offered them a sympathetic smile, as if he somehow knew what sort of trouble they were going through and could relate.

“Oh, it’s alright,” Yangyang said, smiling grimly, “we just met some nasty people today.”

“That sucks.” The boy said, and then gestured to the bench in a silent gesture asking if he could sit with them. Jeno scooched closer to Yangyang in approval. “I’m guessing they said something to you that you didn’t like?”

“We just asked them if they would like to take part in our project! And yet they-!”

“Insulting us is one thing,” Jeno cut in, “but insulting our friends was going way too far.”

“You wouldn’t happen to be… the guys who asked the Dream Trio to sing for them, would you?”

Yangyang gaped and turned to face the boy. “How did you know?”

He grimaced. “World travels fast around here. Especially about the Dream Team.”

“It’s barely been a few hours.” Jeno muttered, and the boy winced.

“Just be glad it isn’t all over social media. They hate that sort of stuff.”

"Oh, _joy_."

"Don't be too harsh on them. They might not be the easiest people in the world to get along with, even outside of music, but they've gone through some stuff. It's made them a bit… hostile."

"And that gives them the right to treat others like they're worthless? Everyone goes through some "things". How does everyone else manage to be nice but them?"

"Besides, why are you defending them? Are you a fan or something?"

The boy flushed. “I guess you can say that… I’m Lee Mark. Haechan- uh, Donghyuck’s boyfriend. Nice to… Nice to meet you.”

Jeno stiffened and Yanyang jolted against him, gaping at the boy- at _Lee Mark_ \- sitting on the other side of his best friend.

“Jeno- _Jeno_!”

“I _know!_ ”

“What do we do now?!”

“Don’t ask me!”

“But-!”

“Uh, guys, I’m still here, you know?”

They went silent. Mark snorted, then slapped a hand over his mouth, and the silence became slightly less awkward, the other two valiantly ignoring the urge to grin.

“Well,” he said after a short silence, “I know Donghyuck and the gang went a bit too far-”

Jeno snorted.

“- and I heard you guys were just looking for voices for that musical composition project? I’m not sure if this will make up for what Donghyuck did, but I don't mind being one of your voices, if you can't find anyone else.”

Mark broke off, staring at the people passing by in seemingly absentminded thought. Jeno and Yangyang stared at him in their own shocked silence, Yangyang clutching Jeno’s arm despite his placating hand above the former’s own.

 _Is he being serious right now?_ Yanyang’s tight grip asked.

 _I don’t know_ , Jeno’s tense shoulders replied.

Voices of passers-by interrupted their silent exchange and Mark turned back to the two with a grin, jabbing his finger behind him. “They’ll help out too!”

“Who?” Jeno asked at the same time one of a pair of passers-by asked, “What?”

Yanyang startled.

Coming to a stop behind Mark were the other two of the Dream Team, Zhong Chenle and Park Jisung. With a start, Jeno and Yangyang realized Mark was the last, generally forgotten member of the Dream Team.

It made Jeno wonder why the Dream Trio couldn’t be a little more like him. Especially his boyfriend.

“We’ll do what?” Park Jisung asked, in that young teenage way that communicated both confusion and annoyance in equal measure. Yangyang was ready to let his temper flare, still hurting from the Dream Trio’s comments, but Jeno just watched on in amusement, his hand on Yangyang’s- which still clenched around his arm- calming his friend from an outburst.

“You’ll sing with me for their music comp. project if they can’t find anyone else to sing for them!” Mark exclaimed, turning to them and, this time, jabbing his finger in Jeno and Yangyang’s direction.

“Huh?”

“Why?” Zhong Chenle whined, pouting. Yangyang felt his animosity melting at the sight. Jeno fought an endeared smile.

“You know why,” Mark said, slightly scolding, and Jisung looked down at the ground.

“I mean- well, yeah… Sure, if you can't find anyone else... He muttered, voice fading with each word, self-consciously shuffling as he spoke. Yangyang melted against Jeno.

“We will?” Chenle gasped dramatically, still bordering on a whine.

“We will.” Mark nodded triumphantly, then turned to Jeno and Yangyang. “How about that?”

“Well,” Yangyang started, looking to Jeno, who stared back at his friend with confirmation in his eyes. Yangyang grinned. “We think it sounds pretty good!”

~

If Yangyang could just be done with the whole issue then, it would’ve been just peachy. As it was, the universe wasn’t done with them just yet.

Ergo, Yangyang found himself staring at Lee Donghyuck, who stoutly refused to so much as look in his direction.

“Um…” He ventured. Lee Donghyuck cast an icy glare his way and Yangyang shut up immediately. And then he felt angry. “Listen, we have to get this project done, some way, somehow, so I’d appreciate it if you’d just get over yourself so we don’t fail, thank you very much.”

The other boy snorted derisively at his outburst. “You say that as if you actually plan on-"

The bell cut his words off and Yangyang gaped, furiously surprised they'd spent so long refusing to work together that they hadn't discussed anything relevant to their project. 

"I can't believe-!"

"Yangyang." A warm voice called from the door and both boys turned to see Jeno leaning against the metallic door frame, gaze knowing.

~

"Let's go get lunch." He said and Haechan found himself thanking the boy blithely in his head for taking his "project partner" away from him.

But contrary to his expectations, his partner sat down and crossed his arms with a huff and a pout and turned his head away childishly. It struck a chord within Haechan.

"Yangyang?" The boy- Lee Jeno- asked, as baffled as Haechan.

"No!" Liu Yangyang exclaimed. "Lee Donghuck is being mean to me! I'm not going anywhere until he apologizes!"

" _Excuse_ me-?"

"Want me to carry you?"

Silence.

And then, very slowly, "... Yes."

Lee Jeno smiled. Haechan stared.

The way the boy walked over to his partner was casual and easy, as if it wasn't strange to offer to carry someone, as if the owner of that confident gait didn't mind foreign eyes on him. And the way his partner snuggled into him as the boy lifted him into a comfortable piggyback suggested just the same.

_"... wake him?"_

_"I don't know, he looks pretty asleep…"_

_"Of course he looks "pretty asleep", Jisung-ah, he's sleeping."_

_A sigh. "All of you are useless. Haechannie, wake up, we have to get to lunch."_

_“Mm… Renjun?”_

_Laughter. "You look terrible!"_

_"Shut up, Nana."_

_More laughter._

_Movement, and then a fond gaze right across from his sleepy one. "Haechan, want hyung to carry you?"_

It struck so close to home.

~

“Do you think they’re dating?”

“Hey, aren’t those the guys that asked-”

“How brave…”

“Brave? I’d call that stupid!”

“But to think they had the guts to-”

Yangyang snuggled in closer to Jeno, who hummed pleasantly, as though his hands weren’t tightening under his thighs.

“I guess it’s true that love is blind, huh? Can’t see why they'd ask otherwise…”

Jeno followed the yellow outlines on the walls and made a beeline for a door to the outside, abandoning his leisurely path towards the lunchroom. Yangyang dug his face between his best friend’s shoulder blades.

~

Jaemin’s peace was disturbed by the sudden, startling sound of doors bursting open and he cursed under his breath, trying his hardest not to jump in fright.

“Who in the world is trying to kill m-”

Ah. It was the two idiots.

Well. One idiot was carrying the other, but that didn’t necessarily reduce the total number of idiots interrupting his quiet time.

It was really such a shame. They were both quite good-looking, including that friend of theirs who had come to collect them before, so if they just had a little bit more common sense about them, Jaemin may have even wanted to be their _friend_. As it stood, they were nowhere near popular and, judging by what Jaemin had been hearing from the conversations surrounding him as he walked down the halls, they’d even gained a bit of infamy as well.

His fan club was quite ready to flay them.

Sighing internally, he put a hand on his knee to help hoist himself up and put the boys in their place for a second time when one of the boys spoke softly. He froze.

“Is it bad that I don’t want to date anyone? If I don’t think I want to fall in love?”

“It isn’t.” The other boy said fiercely and, absentmindedly, Jaemin wondered where that expression was when he and his friends were roasting them in front of the whole school.

“But… Everyone does it. They like someone, confess, and start dating. So what’s wrong with me?”

The taller one grabbed the insecure one by his shoulders. “Yanygyang, look at me. Nothing is wrong with you.”

He was definitely not supposed to be seeing this. Hastily, Jaemin searched for a quiet enough escape route, but all around him were the fallen leaves he’d gathered to sit on comfortably and he couldn’t leave without bringing attention to himself.

“Please believe me. You don’t have to be like anyone else. If you don’t want to fall in love, don’t feel like falling in love, don’t think you _can_ fall in love, that’s completely okay. There’s nothing wrong with you, never has been, never will be.”

“You really think so?”

“I do. And I will tell you every time you need to hear it.”

“I’m sorry. I keep freaking out like this, I must be annoying…”

“Never.” And then, to Jaemin’s utmost surprise, the taller boy reached out to cup the smaller boy- Yangyang’s- face, and kissed him, slowly and assuredly. “I promise.”

Ah, Jaemin really wasn’t supposed to be here.

~

Haechan hated this with a passion. Having to interrupt Renjun and Jaemin when they were clearly having a private moment, because _someone_ wouldn't be bothered by the work they had to do.

It always happened like this. Anyone who was paired up with him wouldn't end up doing their work because they knew he had Renjun to help him out with it. Even though Renjun was already swamped with his Literature major and two other minors. The boy himself would undoubtedly say Haechan was the one who was swamped, not him, with his Music Business and Business Management double majors and Human Resource Management minor, but at least those three were all somewhat interrelated. A Linguistics major had surprisingly little to do with a Korean minor and absolutely nothing to do with a Human Resource Management one.

Even everyone outside of their friend group knew only a genius like Renjun could juggle that workload.

And from what Haechan could see from his position at the door, Jaemin was in the midst of convincing Renjun to take a much needed break from his work with soft kisses, softer whispers, and the softest smile. All of which Haechan would have to ruin because he had yet another good-for-nothing partner who couldn’t be bothered to get his work done all because Haechan had _one_ genius friend-

His phone screen lit up.

**Unknown**

hey!

this is yangyang your partner!

i got your number from mark hyung!

when dyou want to get together so we can get the project started?

_“Huh?”_

“Haechan?”

He looked up quickly. Renjun’s face radiated such softness, it was clear he had been successfully convinced to leave his work alone for a second. But Haechan could see worry creeping up his face at his outburst and hurriedly covered up his expression.

**Unknown**

and dontcha dare sass me!

or ignore me!

were gonna get this project done together whether you like it or not!

and if you dont reply in 2 days, im setting mark hyung on you!

A genuine smile crept its way across Haechan’s face, unbidden. He looked back up at his best friends.

“Wanna go watch a movie?”

Jaemin gasped. “Yes! A movie date!”

“A date? With Haechan?” Renjun snickered.

“But it’s three people! I love the number three.”

“Of course, Nana, anything you want.”

“So is that a yes?”

Renjun pecked Jaemin on the lips and Haechan cooed. “It’s a yes.”

“Yes!”

These expressions were the ones Haechan loved the most for his friends. Open and happy and completely and utterly in love.

_But when did Liu Yangyang get so friendly with Mark-hyung?_

~

Mark was a wonderful addition to their friend group. He, Chenle, and Jisung integrated themselves seamlessly with the rest of Jeno and Yangyang’s friends that the two had a difficult time managing to remember a time when they’d been without them.

“Jisung, don’t even try to pretend you don’t know I can see you pushing your vegetables to the side.”

“Ugh…”

“And Chenle, if I see you eating his vegetables for him once more, I’m going to start taking your meat away from you.”

“Wait! No! Mom, I promise I won’t eat them, please don’t take my meat away from me!”

“I keep telling you I’m Dad, not Mom!”

“Kun ge, you realize you’ve literally never done anything to prove you’re Dad and not Mom?”

Kun stared at Yangyang icily. “Do you want me to stop making you food?”

“Ha, ha ha, what was I saying? Oh, I can’t remember, ha ha ha!”

Mark sighed. “You guys are so chaotic."

"Huh?" Lucas asked, looking up, and he really shouldn't have looked cute with an expression that said he had absolutely no idea what Mark was talking about while his cheeks were stuffed full with chicken such that bits were escaping the opening of his mouth.

Miraculously, he managed anyway.

Nonetheless, everyone grimaced.

"Lucas! Chew before speaking! How many times do I have to tell you that?!'

"Sorry, Mom," he smiled unapologetically, cheeks still bulging. Xiao Jun snorted.

"I said I'm Dad!"

~

When Jaemin found himself staring at the other two in the middle of the lightly painted gray hall, far sooner than he was ready for- which was never- he couldn’t help the startled blush that crossed his face. Then the boy whose name he couldn’t remember quirked his eyebrow at him and he really, really couldn’t help when he blurted, “I didn’t see anything I wasn’t supposed to see!” The unnamed boy’s other eyebrow rose to meet the first, but Yangyang’s expression melted into something mischievous and Jaemin instantly regretted letting his cool slip no matter what he’d seen.

“Oh, what _did_ you see?”

“Nothing.” He replied staunchly, and for a second he thought he’d succeeded, but then an image of the unnamed boy kissing Yangyang so sweetly rose up in his mind and he knew his efforts had been defeated by the embarrassed blush that tainted his cheeks.

It wasn’t as if he was embarrassed by the fact that they were kissing or anything, he wasn’t a prude who thought that sort of thing was immoral, but they way they’d kissed- it was as if nothing else had mattered in that one moment other than the unnamed boy’s need to communicate to his friend that he loved him unconditionally and there was nothing wrong with him. It was personal and definitely not something that he had been meant to see.

“You did see something!” Yangyang teased gleefully and Jaemin really wondered how he had the guts to do such a thing considering the last time they came face-to-face. And sure enough, the crowd was of the same opinion.

“Aren’t those the guys that disturbed the Dream Team before? What are they doing with him now?”

“Here to bother him again?”

“Don’t they ever learn?”

Jaemin fought a snarl. People didn’t know how to keep to themselves, couldn’t seem to tell when their opinions and presences were unwanted, and never could tell when to apologize for going too far.

This was why he hated crowds.

And right now, his fan club was part of said crowd.

Suddenly they were before them, blocking Jaemin’s view of the two friends and he startled at the interruption, albeit internally.

On the outside, he just smiled.

“What are you doing here?” One boy growled lowly and even though Jaemin couldn’t see their faces, he had to give them credit for not flinching at the threatening sound.

Honestly, with how he was feeling about his fan club joining the crowd mentality, it left him feeling a little smug that they refused to be affected.

“Is there a problem?” Unnamed boy asked.

 _Yes_ , Jaemin echoed in his head, tone unpleased, _is there?_

“Lee Jeno.” He said, in that same voice, and Jaemin felt his eyes narrow, “and Liu Yangyang. Yeah, we know your names. And we know your type too. Good-for-nothing rabid fanboys that keep bothering their poor idols like they have nothing better to do in their lives than pay attention to you-”

“Hey, man-” Yangyang tried to speak up, but he got steamrolled mercilessly by another girl.

“Can you please leave Jaemin alone? Can’t you see you’re bothering him? I know it can be a little… _uplifting_ to see him give you the time of day, but you have to remember that he’s a person too and that he has his own things to get to, thank you very much.”

“ _Thank_ -”, Jaemin spoke up, suddenly and coldly, before anyone could say anything else. Under different circumstances, it would have been almost amusing how they turned to him instantly, faces melting into overwhelming adoration. He just stared, familiar cool mask slipping over his face. It made his fans squeal, but he wondered if they knew what it really meant before finishing his sentence, “- you.”

Another boy beamed directly at him.

His eyes traveled to Jeno and Yangyang instead and, _huh_. When had he stopped referring to them by their full names?

Probably when he stopped viewing them as idiots. His fan club was idiotic. Had always been, really, but he’d grown accustomed to the relative low toxicity of a group of school kids who adored him and let them boost his (he’d never admit this out loud, but in this situation, it was easy to reflect on his mistakes) already inflated ego. They? They were just brave. Brave- and, yes, maybe a little stupid- enough to ask him and his friends for their help on a project in front of the entire school.

Would Jaemin ever be that brave?

 _Had_ he?

He didn’t know, but clearly he’d let this fan club of his run their fantasies for a little too long.

His gaze flicked back down at them. A princely smiled ghosted his face. Someone swooned. “Did I ever tell you all my ideal type?” His voice was saccharine, and someone squeaked at the sound of it.

“Renjun?” A girl asked eagerly.

 _“Injoon,”_ he glared, and she sent him an apologetic grin, “is the love of my life, so yes, he’s my ideal type. Clearly.”

A pair of boys chuckled at the back, muttering something along the lines of, “He’s so whipped.” Concentrated heat pooled low in his gut and spread, potent, through his veins. Only his friends got to say that to him.

“Yes,” he agreed, and someone giggled at how cute he was, “and that’s why it’s so easy to know who’s not my type you know? Namely good-for-nothing rabid fanboys _who_ keep bothering their poor idols like they have nothing better to do in their lives than pay attention to you.” Someone in the crowd whistled in impressed shock and someone in his fan club whooped in victory. Jaemin allowed a slow smile to spread across his face as he continued. “And fangirls who interrupt their precious idol’s time because they think they deserve it more than other people who- how _dare_ they not be fans of their idol, right? Fans who keep asserting their views onto other people without allowing them to argue back or respecting their wishes, their privacy, their interests- they’re the worst type of people, don’t you think?”

There was an intense sort of silence, the type one dared not to disturb, weighing physically on everyone’s chest, making it hard to breathe.

They all knew who he was talking about. And this time, no one whistled.

Jaemin walked forward, steps crisp gunshots against the stark silence and there was a collective dazed scramble to make way for him as he walked through them, the unbothered king he always was, had been made to be. He paused once he reached the end of the group his fan club had brought to bother Jeno and Yangyang and turned his head back to face them, giving them a small, peppy wave.

“Have a nice day.”

Jeno grabbed his wrist before he could make his dramatic exit after dropping such a one-liner. For a moment Jaemin considered shaking it off and making his way out before the atmosphere would inevitably start to get awkward, but he knew it would look strange if he shunned the very people he’d stood up for.

He turned around.

Slowly.

But right there, before his eyes, not one foot away from him was a sight that he would never be able to erase from his memory.

“Thanks,” Jeno said, as he _smiled_.

 _Oh_ God _, how was it possible to smile like that?_

His eyes crinkled into a smile each on their own, his whole face alighting in a sort of pure happiness that was hard to come across and it _belonged_ , so _clearly_ on his face, because _how_ could Jaemin go on living with the expressions he’d seen thus far on Jeno’s face if he knew they boy could make _this_ one?

His heart stuttered. From the corner of his eye, Yangyang caught his eye and sent him a knowing smile, as if he understood every single thought that ran through his head.

His _heart._

~

Haechan didn’t like Yangyang. There was a moment- a _few_ , but he’d never admit that- when he thought he could grow to like the boy, but now, watching him drape himself over his boyfriend like that, all he could feel was that his initial hatred of him was justified.

Renjun and Jaemin could feel the heat of his wrath from either side of him and eyed him worriedly.

Haechan didn’t even have left over annoyance to spare for those two.

Mark’s laughter fluttered over to them from where he was sitting with his new friends and Renjun cleared his throat.

“Well, Haechannie, what are we doing for Halloween this year?”

Haechan cast him an irritated glance. “What we do every year, what do you think?”

Jaemin gave him one of him infamous eyerolls, which Haechan would have typically been offended by- he was part of the cool crowd that _never_ got those- had his gaze not traveled over to where now _Lee Jeno_ was clutching at his boyfriend. “ _Yes_ , you pathetic little jealous thing, what Renjun meant was ‘What are we dressing up as’?”

“I don’t know,” Haechan huffed, “why don’t you ask Mark-hyung? He can ask his new _friends_ what they’re doing to make sure we don’t accidentally do the same thing.”

“Haechannie!” Renjun scolded, and then sighed. “Stop whining. We’re trying to distract you, accept our help gratefully.”

"But!" Haechan exclaimed, whining nonetheless, "Mark-hyung’s not paying attention to us anymore! Even Chenle and Jisung are friendly with his new friends! What about us?! Do we not matter anymore?!”

Whereas Renjun could suppress another sigh, Jaemin could not say the same for his eye roll. “Just because Mark-hyung isn’t hovering around you 24/7 doesn’t mean he isn’t paying attention to you anymore. He, Chenle, and Jisung have found new friends. Forgetting about hyung for a second, you know how the other two need them. Leave it be and stop moping.”

Haechan pouted, but he didn’t say anything else. No one really knew Mark was a part of the Dream Team unless they saw him with them. But Chenle and Jisung were a clear, solid part of the group and people were afraid to approach them because of it. They never said anything, but even Haechan knew they got lonely sometimes.

Yeah, he was “a pathetic little jealous thing” and he could be mean when he wanted to, but never to his team- he would always protect his team.

Renjun’s gaze on him softened. “How about we go for a princess theme? I don’t think hyung will be able to take his eyes off you.”

The way Haechan’s desolate little pout turned into a wicked grin was really a little terrifying.

~

The school’s Halloween event was, surprisingly, not a farce. That was always the first thought that entered Renjun’s head when he first entered the festivities.

This year, their school had rented out a haunted house. And judging by the size and look of it, all imposing mahogany and pitch black windows, it wasn’t a cheap rendition either. Renjun suppressed an eye roll- the urge was becoming stronger everyday he spent with Jaemin, he really shouldn’t have been affected like that- but some part of him was excited. He didn’t get scared easily, but he always appreciated a little thrill.

Maybe he could play a game with Jaemin, see who would break first-

“We’ll have you split into pairs according to what the event administrators have decided. Please quieten down as we read out the names!”

Renjun closed his eyes and rolled them so hard in the confines of his eyelids that it momentarily hurt his brain. Logically, he knew the pairs would make it easier to keep track of students and avoid congestion, but the chances he would get any of the Dream Team this way were very low.

While they couldn't exactly help it, this way exactly why school staff were despised by students.

Absentmindedly tugging at his hair, Renjun only gave half of his attention over to the names that were being called. The other half was watching the crowd around him and his friends, parted, watching, and awed at the way he, Jaemin, and Haechan so casually wore dresses and makeup to a college-wide event. Renjun could care less, quite honestly, because they were pretty and he and his friends all knew it, but that miniscule part of his brain that he'd failed to suppress so long ago that he'd stopped even trying was irked.

People never seemed to get over them. Constantly watching, never coming too close.

Always spreading stories.

He was sick of it.

The next pairing startled Renjun from his thoughts.

"Lee Minhyung and Lee Donghyuck!"

What were the odds? _How in the world did Mark-hyung and Haechan manage to get paired together?_

“Na Jaemin and Liu Yangyang!”

Ah. A familiar, ugly feeling settled on him like a blanket.

"Huang Injoon and Lee Jeno!"

He'd never be rid of outsiders who never knew their place.

Renjun sighed. Beside him, Jaemin wore a strange look that made him want to frown. It was a mix of many different emotions, familiar- minor annoyance in the slight raise of his eyebrows, guilt in the familiar way Jaemin could never hide, and most startling of all, a hint of that familiar little starstruck gaze Renjun often found settled on him when he caught Jaemin staring- but altogether one he'd never seen before.

"Well," Haechan smirked before he could think too deep into it, "have fun, I guess, princesses."

Renjun cast a sidelong glance in his direction. "I'm not sure how much fun I'll have, _Sleeping Beauty_ , but I'll definitely try."

"That wasn't even a retort but somehow I feel offended," Haechan huffed good-naturedly as Jaemin slid an arm around Renjun's waist and laughed softly in his ear.

"I guess pure little Cinderella _did_ learn to defend herself with her bratty family constantly around. Now we should go, I don't think we want to keep them waiting any longer. Plus, I think they're starting to think we didn't show up today."

A light shove at his back pushed him forward as the crowd parted around him and, tossing a slightly betrayed look behind him where his friends were only waving infuriatingly smugly, Renjun and Jaemin made his way over to where the pairs who still hadn't gone inside were waiting.

Ironically, a prince was waiting for him. What prince, Renjun couldn't be sure- Disney didn't seem to differentiate their princes as much they did their princesses- but Lee Jeno looked dashing in his costume and Renjun temporarily forgot his dislike of the boy until he caught sight of his gaping face.

The dislike settled right back in, quick, practiced, and easy, and he smiled thinly as he held a hand out to the boy. "I'm sorry to have kept you waiting, my prince."

Much to his astonishment, Lee Jeno blushed. What with his stoic expression that never seemed to change that day in the lunchroom, Renjun had- foolishly- let himself believe that the boy wasn't capable of expressing any emotion that wasn't stalwart foolhardiness, but this- this was a pleasant surprise.

It was a pleasant surprise but it was also the most common reaction any admirer of the Dream Team and Renjun's fascination wore off quickly, replaced by a faint exasperation as he dropped his hand. Was he just going to stand there, like all the others, and just stare? Never make a move to come closer because he assumed Renjun was at too much of a higher standard to approach? Would he look on from afar as Renjun gathered his exasperated wits about him and forced them through the attraction and then whisper later about how Renjun hadn't even given him a choice, wouldn't approach _him_ , who did Renjun think he was?

It was this that Renjun hated the most, why did the administrators not let him just be with Jaemin, why did people never understand that his private life was not up for discussion-

“You look cute.”

“Hm?”

Lee Jeno blushed and looked away. “You look good. In- In the dress. It suits you.”

Unbidden, a blush rose to cheeks as he balked in surprise. “Oh, I, uh- Thank you.”

What was he doing? How could he just assume Jeno would be like everyone else he made a move to trust? How could he lower himself to the level of everyone else who just assumed things about him?

But, overall, how was Jeno so cute? From the way his ears were peeking out of his hair, all red and cute, it was clear his compliment was sincere and not once had Renjun heard an observer of his group say anything remotely positive about him, Haechan, and Jaemin dressing up as princesses. And Renjun- well, Renjun appreciated people who were as accepting as he was of boys dressing in clothes they “weren’t supposed to wear”.

He knew he looked good in the blue dress. Haechan had whistled when he’d walked out in it, Chenle and Jisung had blushed and showered compliments via screeching and muttering respectively, and Jaemin had shown him exactly how he felt about the dress for a good 10 minutes before Haechan managed to pry him off of Renjun and fix up both of their makeup.

And now Jeno knew too.

This excursion wasn’t looking to be that frustrating after all.

Renjun lifted his hand again, all smile and charm. “Lead me, my prince?”

This time, it was Jeno who balked, and then twirled around and stared behind him in surprise where Jaemin was pushing Liu Yangyang into the haunted house, tossing an obnoxious wink behind him.

Renjun made sure his boyfriend could see the fist he was making at him before the darkness swallowed him up and the last thing he could see of the pair was Jaemin’s eyes, twinkling with laughter. He turned to Jeno again.

“So? What do you say?”

Jeno turned back to him. “Oh, uh- yes. I mean, uh, yeah! Sure, yeah, I’ll, uh- what?”

Renjun giggled. “Lead me. You’ll lead me into the darkness, my prince, won’t you?”

“Yes, I’ll- I’ll do that. Definitely.”

And still he didn’t move, staring starstruck at Renjun, who giggled and grabbed the still hand at his side with his outstretched one. Jeno’s hand spasmed in his before the boy finally calmed down and looked down at his feet, face red.

Really, Renjun hadn’t found anyone this cute since Jaemin. Why did he think he would be like everyone else who tried to take advantage of him after one sour meeting which, admittedly, was only so sour because of Renjun himself and his friends?

He'd gotten too used to suspecting people.

"You can go in now, Huang Injoon and Lee Jeno," an administrator called and Jeno took a deep breath as Renjun slid his hand up into the crook of his partner's arm before he led the both of them in.

Immediately Renjun could feel Jeno’s arm tense under his hand. He bit back a laugh. “Don’t tell me- are you scared?”

Jeno’s arm tensed further and for a second, Renjun’s smile dropped at the feel of his blazer bunching up around defined muscles he could clearly feel under the shirt. Neither Renjun nor Jaemin had been inclined much towards muscles, but now, feeling them under the folds of the blazer that was pinching his fingers a bit too tightly to be comfortable for much longer, Renjun could definitely see the appeal of them.

“I’m not.” Jeno argued, in such a cute voice that made Renjun’s eyes snap from his arm to his blushing face. His smile returned. Even back in the lunchroom that day he’d looked a little intimidating standing next to his friend and frowning, but now Renjun could see just how much of a softie he really was.

“Okay, big guy.”

Jeno blushed and looked steadfastly forward as their feet took them further and further down the plush red carpet.

The part that terrified Renjun the most was the silence of it all. No screams from the students, no music, not even an artificial sound of wind blowing that seemed to characterize terrible indoor attempts at haunted houses.

When the footsteps started to appear, initially quiet enough that they could be mistaken as one of the pair’s own, but eventually growing in volume and falling out of step with theirs, even Renjun was acutely terrified enough to use both his hands to clutch at Jeno’s arm. Jeno himself had started to trail behind Renjun at one point, hunching behind his back despite the fact that Renjun was noticeably shorter than him. Even as Renjun dragged them both forward, he couldn’t help but look this way and that. Nothing had popped out at them yet and that made it acutely more terrifying, the idea that something was lurking within the dark cracks of the worn floorboards and patched walls, just watching, watching, watching, not making a move. The footsteps would fade and reappear from time to time and although Renjun would whimper every time, Jeno would go stock still until they either couldn’t hear anything anymore or Renjun managed to convince him they had to move before whatever it was that was following them actually came close.

Until he, too, stopped. Stood still in place, unmoving, until Jeno was forced to look up from Renjun’s back at his frozen solid face, and then peer at the direction he was looking at.

It was dark and a little hard to see, but Renjun could see Jeno squinting insistently regardless and if he was capable of feeling anything other than pure fear at the moment, he knew he would have felt grateful.

As it was, he didn’t want anything to bring the attention of that vague lump of blackness he could pick out in the distance to them.

Jeno turned back to him, eyebrows furrowed, and leaned in close.

“Are you okay?” He whispered, hot breath fanning Renjun’s cheek. Renjun shook his head, ever so minutely. “What’s wrong?”

It took forty seconds and about a million doses of courage to get himself to point in the direction of the life-sized lump of darkness. “There’s something there.”

Jeno went pale. “W- What?”

Renjun just nodded.

They just stood there for a few moments longer, wondering what they would do when it was very likely that they would die if they took but a few steps forward when there was a loud and sharp sort of thudding sound and someone whimpered. Renjun couldn’t tell if it was him or not, but even if Jeno hadn’t verbally expressed his fear thus far, it was clear to tell that once Renjun had reached his breaking point in this silent haunted house with that black bump wriggling far off in the darkness, Jeno could no longer hold his faint semblance of, _I’m totally okay, not terrified at all!_

And then, surprising both of them, his expression slipped into one of determination. He grabbed Renjun’s hand in his and pulled him forward, walking slowly enough that the red carpet still muffled their steps. Shocked and boneless as he was, Renjun wasn’t entirely sure that was a good thing.

Slowly, the wriggling black mass came into view, becoming larger and more defined. Once Jeno finally caught sight of it, he froze, much like Renjun had earlier, but not to let his random burst of courage go to waste, he simply squeezed Renjun’s hand harder and led them forward. Renjun winced with how hard Jeno’s hand was clutching at his, but he couldn’t complain, not when he was sure his voice was gone and he was probably clutching at Jeno’s hand just as strong, only without the muscles.

It was a mix of two people, Renjun realized as they came closer. Some kind of contraption created that had arms coming out of the head and waist, body thick as a tree trunk.

If Renjun ever met whoever created this haunted house, he would murder them first and then congratulate them on a job well done. He was done with this place.

One of the arms moved in some strangely human-like up-and-down motion and no matter how much he pulled at Jeno’s hand, he couldn’t get the boy to turn around and just let them leave, even if his face, no matter how determined-looking, was just as pale and sweaty as Renjun’s was. Of all the times he could have chosen to be courageous, Renjun cursed that it was now that his courage had melded with his fear and led them forward as if turning back wasn’t a perfectly viable option.

And then there was laughter.

Out of nowhere, mean laughter echoed the walls and Renjun startled so hard, he fell right into Jeno’s arms, which were clutching at him so strongly he’d have been afraid for his lungs if they hadn’t had all the wind knocked out of them in fright already.

"It's okay," Renjun muttered comfortingly, even though he wasn't exactly sure who he was talking to, "we'll be fine."

As fine as someone could be cut into pieces or whatever the laughing, multi-armed black creature was going to do to them.

"Pathetic," a disembodied voice crowed, "you can't even handle a simple haunted house? How weak can you get, clutching onto him like that, don't you have any shame?"

And oh, whatever that creature was had a voice and it was going to eat them right after he'd told Jeno they'd be fine, what did he ever do to deserve such a thing when he was just comforting someone and possibly himself as well-

But… He hadn't spent literally his entire life learning to defend himself only to let himself be put down by some abomination right before it was about to kill him- absolutely not, he was stronger than that.

Determined, he looked up from Jeno's chest and opened his mouth.

"Listen up," an unfamiliar voice said, loud and furious. Renjun could feel himself and Jeno freeze all at once, but it was a different kind of reaction this time, born of something other than fear.

They knew that voice.

“I told you off once and I’m not afraid to do it again. But I’m with my _lovely_ partner here and I’d rather not get into any conflict when we’re enjoying ourselves, so I suggest you turn around and leave peacefully before I make you.”

“But-”

_“Leave.”_

The fading sound of scurrying footsteps was followed by a stifling silence that was distinctly different than the haunted house’s. Renjun peeked at the dark lump that had caused them so much fright which turned out to actually be two people and not some multi-limbed abomination. It was easy to identify the distinct figure of his very own Nana hugging someone else, his familiar figure hunching over the other person in a way Renjun was intimately familiar with.

Liu Yangyang must have felt very secure, wrapped in the arms of someone who tried so hard to protect the person they were hugging from the world.

He sniffled and Renjun felt Jeno’s arms tighten around him at the sound before making to remove themselves.

In a moment of pure panic, Renjun stopped him.

Jeno looked down at him in surprise and Renjun’s mind blanked. Why had he stopped him? It had nothing to do with the warm way Jeno was hugging him, not when he already had a warm, loving boyfriend of his own whom he was undoubtedly loyal to. Not when Jaemin’s rare blush rivaled the free blush Renjun had seen spread across Jeno’s face. Not when Jaemin owned his whole heart and then some.

But he couldn’t seem to bear the thought of Jeno leaving.

“Injoon?” Jeno aked, startling Renjun back to his senses.

“Just-” he interrupted, before Jeno could ask what was wrong, mind suddenly running several times full speed as he looked between Jeno’s neck and the sight of Jaemin hugging Liu Yangyang to find any explanation for his behavior that didn’t immediately discredit him as unfaithful to his very own extremely faithful boyfriend, “let Jaemin take care of it. I know you might not think it after what we did to you in the lunchroom that day, but we’re not incapable of understanding others’ emotions. Jaemin may look like he couldn’t care less, but he is probably actually the one who cares the most out of all of us. Please, just- just this once, I know it may be hard, but I want you to believe me.”

Renjun knew it from the desperate way Jaemin was hugging Liu Yangyang, as if he knew he wasn’t actually protecting him from anything although that was the one thing he wanted at that moment. Diversion or not, that was a truth Renjun was very well acquainted with, whether Jaemin was hugging him or Haechan that way. It was a sort of emotion reserved for those he trusted well enough to protect.

They might not have been close, but Jaemin- no, the Dream Trio- never stood for bullying. Anyone who faced any sort of criticism they were well-versed with, Jaemin would immediately protect.

They knew how it felt to be faced with such scalding harshness after all.

Whether Jeno would let Jaemin extend his protection to his friend after they’d bullied them in the lunchroom- a fact Renjun was beginning to regret from the very moment Jeno had admitted that he was cute, taking after the very people who had made him the bitter person he was today while still in university- was a different story altogether.

Jeno took a deep, shaky breath and Renjun looked up at him hopefully, trying his hardest to convey his sincerity. They stared at each other for several, silent beats, Jeno wading his way through Renjun’s very soul to make sure he could entrust his friend to someone Renjun was sure was essentially a stranger to him. He wasn’t sure what he found, but the weight of Jeno’s arms settled back around him and the boy dropped his head on Renjun’s shoulder with a timid sort of exhale.

“No, it’s alright I- I trust him. And you. I trust you both.”

And Renjun didn’t know why that mattered so much to him, but the good feeling it filled him with was so wholesome that it brought tears of shock and relief to his eyes and he clutched at Jeno harder, trying to convey the gratitude he felt that Jeno would ever take such a big step as trust them through his arms. Liu Yangyang was sniffling in the background, but in the face of whatever this dam that had opened between them was, it wasn’t such a startling sound to either of them as it should have been.

The sight of Jaemin whispering softly to the boy in his arms made Renjun smile with familiarity. He knew the look on his boyfriend's face when he was pulling out all the stops. Just like he knew the way his face would fall when all his stops just weren't enough and, oh, perhaps it wasn't such a good idea for him to say Jaemin could handle it when he didn't really know the first thing about Liu Yangyang-

Out of nowhere, with an expression startlingly similar to the one Jeno was wearing just moments before, Jaemin leaned down and kissed Liu Yangyang square on the mouth.

Renjun blinked and Jeno gaped and Liu Yangyang went completely still.

Jaemin sprang back. “I’m sorry, I just saw you and your friend- Jeno- uh, earlier when I probably shouldn’t have, and he, uh, kissed you? When you were crying like this because you, um, didn’t want to fall in love? Sorry, I shouldn’t have kissed you, I just didn’t know what to do- you didn’t seem to be calming down and you did when Jeno kissed you so I just thought- just- sorry.”

This was why Renjun fell in love with Jaemin. He did his utmost to make the people he loved happy, even when others would disapprove of his methods. And he trusted Renjun enough to kiss Liu Yangyang. Because where Renjun knew Jaemin enough that he knew, despite the cool appearance he liked to wear and the suave personality he showed everyone that was in no way a pretense, the second he thought he did something wrong, it would bug him until he got it off his chest, shattering that perfect prince persona into the annoying, overly affectionate brat that made another half of the boy Renjun loved, Jaemin also knew Renjun and if there was the slightest inkling Renjun wouldn’t be okay with something or couldn’t be persuaded to be okay with it, he wouldn’t even think of doing it. And yes, he knew Jaemin would come up to him in a bit, red-faced and nearly-rapping with how fast he tried to explain that yes, he kissed that kid that had bothered them that day in the lunchroom, but it really didn’t mean anything, he loved Renjun more than anyone in the world other than the rest of his team, but please don’t tell Haechan that because he’d get a big head about it- yes, Renjun knew it, and yes, he was okay with it. He knew Jaemin loved him. He never had any need to question it.

“I’m surprised,” Jeno breathed softly, next to his ear, and although Renjun’s heart was pounding with a dire sort of need to run over and squeeze the life out of his boyfriend, because all of a sudden, he needed to show him just how much he loved him, he turned back to Jeno and let him know he was listening. “No, it’s just- I don’t know, it’s nothing.”

"Hmm," Renjun just smiled, accepting. It was probably difficult for him to entrust his friend to someone who'd once practically bullied them, Renjun wasn't going to push it. He brought something else that has been bothering him up instead. "By the way, it's Renjun."

Jeno looked confused.

"You called me Injoon earlier. That's my Korean name, but all my close friends call me Renjun, my Chinese name. I figured, well… Yeah. You can call me Renjun, if you want."

"Oh," he said this time and a small smile spread across his face as he blushed. "Yeah. Yeah, I'd like that."

"Great." Renjun smiled, blushing as well, and there was some kind of pull where suddenly, Renjun _wanted_ and it looked like Jeno was leaning down-

Two piercing screams echoed down the hall and they jumped apart.

"What the-"

Renjun laughed, partially out of hysterics and partially because he recognized exactly whose screams those were.

"That's Chenle and Jisung." He wheezed, only his voice was overlapped by Jaemin's, who looked at them in surprise. "What, you guys were here too?"

"Yup," Renjun smiled, "wanna call the babies to us? I don't think they'll survive here by themselves."

Jaemin snorted and Liu Yangyang looked like he was holding back a laugh of his own.

"Babies! Chenle and Jisung!" Renjun called. "We're over here! Come over here and we can go out together!"

His only reply came in the form of a high-pitched wail.

Jeno sighed. "I'll go get them."

Renjun raised an eyebrow. "You're not scared?"

And then Jeno looked between him, Liu Yangyang, and Jaemin and said, "Well, I know what I have to get back to," and Renjun's heart gave out.

He looked back to Jaemin and Liu Yangyang only to find Jaemin's face looking as hot as his and Liu Yangyang grinning at the both of them.

"I thought only you pulled those kind of lines," he told his boyfriend, voice layered in disbelief.

"I thought I did too," Jaemin replied, pressing the back of his hand against a hot cheek, "but I guess not."

And when Jeno came back, Renjun found himself squeezed between Jeno and his boyfriend, Liu Yangyang at Jeno's side and Chenle and Jisung at Jaemin's and found he felt content, heart fluttering incessantly in his chest in a way that made him feel good, as if he were floating on clouds, soaring through the stars, laying in a bed of downy feathers, even as they all flinched into each other or screamed when the walk got progressively scarier, lurking creatures designed in a truly grotesque manner that made Renjun's skin crawl. Only Liu Yangyang, surprisingly, seemed unaffected, clapping excitedly when something peered at them through cracks in the wall or chased after them.

It made Renjun wonder what had been said to him to make him cry earlier.

They were met with the welcome sight of Mark and Haechan waiting for them when they finally escaped the horrid place. Mark has his arms wrapped around Haechan's waist in a way that seemed like he would never let go. Haechan had his head tilted back on Mark's shoulder, eyes closed and expression soft like the needy baby he only turned into when he was in Mark's arms. Mark was whispering something sweetly into his ear as they swayed from side to side slowly, Princess Aurora and Prince Philip in their own little world, and Renjun was glad Haechan finally got the attention he'd been craving for a while now.

Jaemin, being Jaemin, let them have their moment for a second longer before clearing his throat. Mark looked up at them and furrowed his eyebrows in surprise. Eyes fluttering open, Haechan looked between then just as his boyfriend did, but whereas Mark looked genuinely confused, Haechan just looked incredulous.

He rolled his eyes. "So the brat won you over, huh?"

In Renjun's periphery, Liu Yangyang turned up his nose. "Says the actual brat."

"Nice," Jaemin smirked, just as Haechan shot up with an indignant, "Hey!"

Their group, the Dream Team, had been complete before, but seeing this, these people whom he was sure hated each other, coming together made him feel as if everything was falling into place, a bigger picture that he couldn't see, but knew the Dream Team wasn't the full illustration.

He couldn't help but feel as if this was how they were meant to be.

~

As Renjun had expected, Jaemin pulled him aside some time before they were due to eat lunch with Jeno and Liu Yangyang's friends, courtesy of Mark, who seemed determined to mingle their friend groups after that day at the haunted house.

He started with a, “Before I say anything, I just want you to know that I love you so, so much and nothing could ever change that,” and Renjun knew exactly what this was about. He smiled in confirmation.

All he understood after Jaemin took a deep breath was the word “Yangyang” and “but I love you” and, exactly as he’d imagined, “but I love everyone else too, but please don’t tell Haechannie that”. At the end of it all, he looked up at Renjun hopefully, as if expected Renjun to understand everything he’d said even though he’d been practically rapping at a pace that would have left Mark’s brother and fellow rapper, Johnny, gaping. If Renjun hadn’t known what he was going to say beforehand, he would have asked Jaemin to repeat himself and be faced with his sour pout- which, actually, that wasn’t a bad idea at all-

But for the sake of his boyfriend’s shining eyes, he refrained himself and clasped Jaemin’s hands in his. “I know. I love you too, and that’s why I don’t mind that you kissed Yangyang, because I know you love me just as much as I do you.”

Jaemin gaped up at him and he just rolled his eyes in a way that made Jaemin smile. “What, did you really think I wouldn’t be okay with it? The boy was clearly having a hard time, and if a kiss was what he needed, then I’m fine with you giving it to him. In fact, I think it was very sweet of you. You look... _very_ good when you’re leaning down to kiss someone.”

When Jaemin got over his shock, he smirked. “Someone? Who might that someone be?”

And Renjun smiled, because this was that confident, cocky side of Jaemin that he loved, the part everyone saw and wished they could have, but never, ever could, because no matter how many people he showed it to, it was his, his, his, and his team’s. “Me?”

Jaemin loomed over him. “You like the way I look when I’m leaning down to kiss you?”

“I love it.”

“Then I guess I should pay you back some after I went and kissed someone else, shouldn’t I?”

And he leaned down and Renjun’s heart skipped several beats as his arms came to bracket his head, eyes closing as their lips met, and it was bliss.

When Haechan came back to get them, he found them cuddling into each other and rolled his eyes.

“Come on, you lovebirds. We have to go meet my boyfriend’s friends. It’s a big deal and all that.”

“You were his boyfriend way before they were his friends,” Renjun replied, standing up and extending a hand to help his boyfriend up, although Jaemin just draped himself over Renjun’s shoulders as soon as he got to his feet, “if anything, they should be the ones nervous to meet you.”

“Oh, I like that version, let’s go with that.”

“You know they aren’t just Mark-hyung’s friends, right? They’re Chenle and Jisung’s too.” Jaemin said, distractedly pouting when Renjun removed his arms from around him and just brought his hand down to hold his.

“Yeah, well, I can just interrogate them to see if they’re good enough for our Chenle and Jisung too.”

Renjun wrinkled his nose. “Stop that, you sound so old. God knows you aren’t nearly mature enough for that.”

“Hey!”

Turns out, they didn’t even need to be, because the second they met Mark’s friend group on the street, one of them immediately checked them over to see if they were wearing appropriate clothes for the weather and insisted he stay behind them as they walked, as if any one of them would get lost or kidnapped.

His name was Kun, Mark whispered to them. Qian Kun. Didn’t like being called a mother, but totally was.

He stayed behind them even as they reached a busy crossroads, full of college students trying to get to the dining hall before all the tables became occupied. Renjun wondered if he shouldn’t be closer to Yangyang and Jaemin, who seemed to be plotting something, the way they talked. By the time Renjun weaved his way through the crowd to get to them, Jaemin had disappeared, off talking to Chenle and Jisung and Renjun worried about whatever he was telling them more than he was disgusted at the intense smell of gas that sometimes drifted his way as cars passed them by at a speed that probably wasn’t advisable on a college campus.

It happened kind of in a blur. At one moment there were more people squishing to Renjun’s side, in the next, someone- Renjun cast a panicked eye out when it happened, catching sight of the Dream Team’s fan club and, _God_ , _why_ couldn’t they just leave them alone- bumped into Yangyang, who, unsteady with the difference in the amount of people at his back and the absence of them at his front, stumbled.

Everyone in that small bubble of space froze. The idiot who’d pushed him watched in horror as, instead of simply reaching for his back in pain, Yangyang took a too-quick step forward to provide any assistance, Renjun froze in absolute disbelief at how idiotic people could be to go so far as risking a life in jealously, and Yangyang, the very person in danger, froze the instant his foot rose into the air, terrified out of his wits with the knowledge that the oncoming traffic would hit him in not even five seconds.

He had no idea where the sudden bravery came from, but in the next instant, Renjun was reaching out with a panicked sort of fervor, grasping Yangyang’s wrist and pulling him back with the sort of strength only adrenaline could provide, falling back onto someone whom he recognized as Jeno when Yangyang fell back into him.

Renjun collapsed into Jeno, whose hands came up to grab at his arms, clutching a bit too tightly, although Renjun didn’t notice, with how loud the blood was rushing in his ears. Yangyang, on the other hand, whirled around immediately, furious.

“You! I’ve had enough-” and he faltered as the idiot’s friends came up behind him, protectively, even though all their faces looked similarly as pale as Renjun knew his did. He soldiered on, fueled by fear, “I’ve had enough of your pettiness-”

“Pettiness?” The idiot questioned, half in hysterics. “Pettiness is you refusing to leave the Dream Team alone-”

“ _God_ , you are so _obsessed_ , _why_ can’t you just _leave it alone_?!”

And suddenly, the blood running through Renjun’s ears felt different. He pried himself out of Jeno’s rigid hands, feeling they boy startle into action behind him and push his way towards Yangyang, immediately wrapping his arms around his friend, and Renjun turned to face the perpetrators.

“I will have you sued,” he hissed, in a voice he could barely recognize as his own. It was as if Haechan was speaking through him, vicious and irreconcilable, and he relished in the rush of righteous energy it gave him because this way _not okay_ , in no way, shape, or form, and he didn’t leave behind his previous lifestyle only to get into one just like it- “I can pull strings you could never _imagine_ , make you regret ever trying to pull a trick like this one, I will have you _know_ that attempted _murder_ is not right in any book, much less mine.”

It wasn’t possible for their horrified faces to get any whiter, so instead they turned red, starting to squeak, “but- but I didn’t mean to- I just pushed him and he fell-!”

“I don’t want to hear it. What you did was inexcusable and, at the very least, I will have you expelled.”

“No! No, please, Renjun-”

Renjun glared so fiercely, the perpetrators scrambled to take back their words.

“ _Injoon_ , please, I did it all for you, you can’t do this to me!”

And Renjun laughed, humorlessly. “ “Did it for me”. Ha. That is exactly why I hate people like you, who convince themselves of things they shouldn’t, that is for _us_ , it’s _always_ “for us”- I swear, people like you are worse than people who actually know what they’re doing is wrong and do it anyway.”

And suddenly, Renjun knew without a sound or touch, that Jaemin was behind him, didn’t know what was going on, but knew he was distressed and immediately came to fix it.

“Scram.” He said, lowly, in a voice Renjun would never be capable of no matter whom he was projecting, the voice of someone who was resigned to harsh defense much more than Renjun, whose main role within their trio was to pick up the pieces and not create them. It filled even Renjun with a sort of fear, even as Jaemin came up behind him, bracketing him in a sort of warmth that wasn’t entirely comforting at the moment, and, with a glance behind him, they scrambled with terrified shivers and squeaks, pushing through the throng of people who had no idea what was going on with haste.

“What’s going on here?” Renjun heard Haechan’s voice behind him and found him standing next to Jaemin, glaring in the direction of the disappearing idiots with that glare Renjun always admired, even though it chilled him every time he saw it. He glanced at Yangyang, who was hiding his head in Jeno’s shoulder and looked back up at the street, the walk sign flashing at them to go.

“We’ll talk about it later.” In his periphery, he caught one of Mark’s friends’ gazes, and he seemed to understand that something had gone on in the time they weren’t looking. He turned to Mark, who glanced at them and then turned to signal to Qian Kun, who immediately came up next to them without a word and gently herded them across the street.

Yangyang was sat down immediately once they got to their table, Jeno right next to him and everyone just generally crowding in close, a protective force against the outside world. Renjun found himself next to Jaemin, who was next to Jeno, and Haechan, who, although he was sitting next to Mark, was leaning away from him, towards Yangyang.

“What happened?” The friend whose gaze Renjun had initially caught asked, eyes flickering between him and Yangyang, and Renjun felt the gravity of the situation settle over him once again as Jaemin and Haechan turned towards him as well. Jeno turned away from the table, curling around Yangyang, who had yet to look up, and Renjun knew it was up to him to recount what had happened, no matter how little he wanted to relive the moment.

He took a deep breath. “First of all, I want to apologize, on behalf of everyone here who is a part of the Dream Team- no, those of us who are in the Dream Trio- because it’s indirectly our fault this happened, even though- believe me- I _hate_ saying that.”

Haechan and Jaemin each put a supporting hand on each of his thighs under the table and squeezed in unison, years of shared experiences having trained them in understanding the pattern of his very breath. Everyone else furrowed their eyebrows, likely imagining the worst.

“The people who call themselves our fan club- some of them were there, in the crowd. I think they just meant it as a joke, but they kind of shoved at him, probably just trying to be mean in the way people like them are when they’re reduced to what they probably believe is some kind of righteous jealousy that is actually just incredibly pathetic- excuse me. So they made a jab at him and instead of the desired effect Yangyang just- well, he fell forward. Into the traffic.”

All of a sudden, it got much harder to speak. It was as if the shock at the table was physical and weighing down at him and although, logically, he knew it wasn’t directed at him, the way both Haechan and Jaemin’s hands tightened painfully on his thighs felt a little incriminating.

“I kind of panicked and pulled him back, but, well. It happened and it shouldn’t have and I’m so sorry that you all had to deal with this.”

_With the kind of absurd worship we’ve been facing for years._

The hands on his thighs squeezed harder, out of shock and into understanding, and then released their tight grip, settling into the comfort Renjun needed in the face of the dead silent, but weighted reaction he was getting at the story.

Finally, it was Qian Kun who sighed and looked directly at him. “It’s not your fault. You can’t be held responsible for other’s actions if you haven’t perpetrated them- which, in the case that you did, I _will_ find out and you _will_ regret it, no matter how well-known or rich you are, because _no one_ hurts my friends like that. But I don’t think you did- any of you- since you all stood up for him, so I’m willing to forgive you all for that stunt you pulled a while ago when they went to ask you for help. And thank you for saving him. You don’t know how grateful we all are that you were there and able to help in time.”

Renjun smiled weakly, relief overwhelming to his tensed muscles. “You don’t know how thankful I am that you aren’t blaming us. Thank you.”

Kun smiled and Renjun felt a little as if he was being comforted with the way Kun was looking at him, almost as his own parents would, but with the understanding of someone that was around his age. He clapped his hands in attention and everyone’s eyes were drawn to him immediately.

“Alright, we came here to eat lunch and that’s what we’ll do. We all need some food in our stomach after that fright, but no one goes alone. I don’t know what kind of stunts people are willing to pull after that, but I’m not taking any chances.” He glanced around. “Lucas, you go with the children. Ten, you can take the older two children. And you- I’m assuming you’d prefer to be in the comfort of your respective boyfriends?”

Renjun nodded and Kun smiled and gestured at the table to get moving. It took a moment, but everyone got up in the end, slowly heading towards the cafeteria with constant glances back at where Yangyang and Jeno still sat, curled into each other. Renjun took a little longer to get up, slow enough to catch Kun telling Jeno to take Yangyang to the bathroom before Jaemin’s hand fell on his and told him to stop worrying, that he’d already done his part and now it was time for him to relax before he fell into a spiral of “what if”s.

Haechan kept Mark as both he and Jaemin stuck close to Renjun, a unit out to go get lunch together. They refused to part, even though not all of them wanted to eat the same thing, going to each station together, waiting outside of the line when one of them went in to get something for himself the others didn’t want, then sticking back together as they drifted to another station for the next person. The whole process took a good 15 minutes for the four of them, at the end of which they sat back down at the table only to find most of them already started at the process of eating. Chenle and Jisung looked a lot less shaken, Lucas refusing to let them stew in their own thoughts with how much he talked. Ten, who Renjun realized was the person he made initial eye contact with, sat in between the other two, whose names he still didn’t know, and though they looked less relaxed, Ten seemed to be a comforting presence between them, often pulling Lucas to share his conversation with them so he could distract them if they got too caught up in their thoughts.

Lucas, who seemed to be the moodmaker of the group, included them in the conversation the second they got settled, making what could have gotten solemn and awkward in an instant dissipate seamlessly and Renjun felt an immense surge of gratitude, watching the sparkle in Haechan’s eyes return the more they talked.

A tentative hand on his shoulder drew him away from the sight and Renjun found himself looking at Kun, who drew him in.

“Jeno told me that you guys took care of Yangyang back at the haunted house as well. I wanted to thank you for that too. Thank you for being there for him when we couldn’t.”

"Oh no," Renjun rushed to say, "I didn't do anything! It was all Jaemin. He- well- he kissed him? And it made him feel better? So yeah, I guess… It was Jaemin's doing, not mine."

"Jaemin kissed Yangyang?" Haechan hissed, apparently paying attention to their conversation now.

"Yeah." Renjun replied, motioning at him to stay quiet.

Haechan looked at him weirdly. "And you're okay with that?"

"I think Yangyang needs it? Jaemin said something about him doing it because he saw Jeno do it, so I'm guessing it's, like, a last resort "make sure Yangyang isn't sad" sort of thing?"

"Well if you're okay with it, then I guess I am too…"

"Oh," Kun said, as if he hasn't heard a thing they said, wearing the exact same expression Jeno had when Jaemin kissed Yangyang. "I'm surprised."

"Jeno said that too. What- What do you mean by that?"

"Oh, it's just… I didn't think Yangyang let anyone but Jeno kiss him. It was their thing. I guess I'm surprised that Jaemin of all people, no offense to your boyfriend or anything, could kiss him without him freaking out more when even we can't exactly come close to him like that."

"Oh." Renjun said, tone mirroring Kun's moments before and Jeno's back in the haunted house. "Do you know why it's like that?"

"I've wondered that a lot myself, but neither of them seem to know either, so I've just accepted it. All I know is that it seemed to start after Jeno stood up for him in primary school when Yangyang had just moved from Germany and had trouble speaking the language, after which the two have just always stuck together before we became their friends."

Something clicked in Renjun's head, although Haechan just stared incredulously before shaking his head and going back to the conversation Lucas was holding with the rest of the table. Renjun tugged on his hand to pull his attention back to him.

"I want to go to the bathroom. Come with." Haechan nodded and Renjun nodded to Kun before getting up and weaving his way to the bathroom, Haechan in tow, hand warm in his.

He forgot about what he wanted the second they entered the bathroom though, finding Yangyang, alone and staring at the mirror.

"Where's Jeno?" Haechan whispered, after several moments of silence in which Yangyang didn't seem to notice them, staring deeply into the mirror.

"I don't know." Renjun whispered back. He didn't think Jeno would ever leave him, after what happened.

They stood there, staring for a bit more in silence, before Haechan's hands tightened in his. "I think he's starting to hyperventilate."

For a second, Renjun didn't see it, but as he focused on Yangyang's chest, he began to see the small, rapid rises and felt panic come over him for the second time in the hour. Haechan's hand slipped from his and he reached out in pure panic to snatch his hand back, not wanting to be without his reassuring warmth.

"What are you planning to do?"

"Kiss him, duh. Isn't that what calms him down the easiest?"

And Renjun's panic faded as instantly as it came. "I don't think you can do that. At least not yet."

"What? Why not?"

"Just- let me try." Time to test his theory out.

"Why can you do it if I can't?" Haechan whined, but Renjun was already moving forward, tapping Yangyang on the shoulder, only to have him turn to him with a blank gaze. He didn't know what the protocol was here, but he felt a blanketing calm settle over him, the same calm that enabled him to take care of Haechan and Jaemin those rare moments the world got to them enough to make them cry.

"Yangyang? It's me, Renjun, do you remember me?"

A nod.

"I don't think your head is in the right place right now… Can you talk to me? Can we talk you out of it?"

He shook his head.

"Okay, that's fine, I won't force you if you can't, I know how that feels. If I kissed you… Would you feel better?"

Silence.

Renjun bit his lip.

Yangyang's hands started to tremble.

"I'm going to lean in for it, okay? If you don't want it, stop me. Shove me, tap me, whatever you need to do. Just do it, because I'm not going to kiss you if I can't, okay? It'll be okay, I just need to distract you for a bit. Come on, we can do this together."

And he leaned in slowly, ever so slowly, keeping constant eye contact with Yangyang, whose quick breaths thankfully didn't seem to be getting much quicker and whose hands kept trembling, but stayed in place, as if willing Renjun to come closer, help him even though he couldn't explicitly ask for it.

And so Renjun kept leaning in, slow and closer yet, until he was finally but a breath away from his lips where he paused, looking seriously into Yangyang's eyes and asking if he was okay with it, wanted it, needed it. There was a moment where nothing seemed to move, Renjun wasn't breathing, nothing existed around them in that one moment and in his hyper focus, he saw Yangyang give him the barest of nods.

He leaned in and their lips met and... Yangyang didn't seem to respond at all. Renjun kind of paused, unsure of how to continue, before pressing closer, slowly and steadily as he had been and just as slowly, Yangyang gave in, lips softening under his and tentatively kissing back when he regained his bearings.

"Yangyang, I told Kun to get some food for you like you- Donghyuck? Oh."

Jeno's voice floated through the slow and soft haze kissing Yangyang had created and with a final peck, Renjun withdrew. "You okay?"

Yangyang nodded and tossed him a grateful smile.

"Are you okay?" Jeno echoed from where he stood with Haechan at the door and Yangyang just looked in his direction. Jeno smiled after a bit and came and took Yangyang in his arms, mouthing grateful words in Renjun’s direction, who just smiled in reassurance before going to Haechan, who looked a bit put out at having done nothing, and slipping his hand in his.

“I still don’t get why I couldn’t just kiss him like you did.” He muttered as they went back to their seats, Jeno not separating a hair from his friend. “I’m a great kisser.”

Renjun laughed. “I’m sure you are, Haechannie. You just haven’t met the requirements yet.”

“Requirements? What requirements?”

“I’m not going to say anything for sure, but I think I met them a little under an hour before.”

“When he got pushed?”

“Yeah.”

Before Haechan could say anything else, trouble met them at the table.

Renjun would’ve gotten angry, but his eyes settled on Jaemin instead, who looked positively murderous, and instead, he just worried for the wellbeing of whoever was stupid enough to disturb them when they clearly weren’t in a good mood.

No doubt it was their fan club. They’d let them grow and fester for too long, even though that had been the very life they were trying to escape, simply because it felt good to have people to worship the very ground they walked on and now it was coming back to bite them in worse ways than they could have ever imagined.

Even back when they were properly famous, no one had ever tried to kill someone out of jealousy or even hatred.

So much for an open school environment.

“- and now you’re sitting at their table and I just don’t get why you can’t leave them alone,” the girl was saying, flanked by a multitude of other girls at her back, all nodding as if they were in some movie and they’d practiced their synchronicity beforehand. “Stop bothering them to sing for you when they clearly don’t want to!”

And suddenly Renjun could feel the air shift next to him. He looked next to him where, suddenly, Yangyang was looking up with a fierce sort of expression that rivaled Haechan’s and Renjun gulped.

Where did this Yangyang come from and what had he been doing this whole time?

“I have had enough,” he hissed, loud enough for the entire table to turn their heads and look at him in surprise and suddenly, Renjun became aware of how the whole lunchroom was mostly silent, likely since this group of girls had approached their table, “of you people who don’t know how to just mind your own business and keep butting into my peace as if you have something important to say, which you _don’t_ , so, for the sake of everything good in this world, just learn how to shut up, sit down, and accept what’s going on around you! The world keeps changing, things won’t stay the same forever and if your precious Dream Team wants to associate with us, then it isn’t your job to assume we’re making them, because you being their fans doesn’t immediately grant you control over their lives and freedom. They’re their own people, for the love of God, literally just please leave them alone and just mind your own business. And, for your information, we _haven’t_ asked them to help us with our project at all after that time in the lunchroom, so stop trying to talk about things you have no knowledge of! Speaking of which, I am _sick_ and _tired_ of you using my relationship with Jeno as some kind of weapon to put us down because we _aren’t_ boyfriends, he’s my best friend and soulmate and I take _a lot_ of offense to all you assumptions and petty insults and it _hurts_ , so take your jealousy and stuff it somewhere so I don’t have to deal with it anymore!”

By the end of his rant, Yangyang was panting and red-faced and Renjun was struck with a sudden awe that Yangyang was probably stronger than he had ever given him credit for. Anything he and the Dream Trio had faced over the years had hurt them, sure, but it was all an indirect sort of pain, one that was never directed towards them, but hurt them anyway. It made them hard and brittle, but Yangyang had faced direct bullying multiple times and it had doused this fiery personality of his, the strength of which could rival Haechan’s own. Seeing him now reminded Renjun of a young Haechan, back when their fame was first starting to take a toll on them, when Haechan was still open and childish and fought for his freedom passionately, without the barbed wires that were now hidden behind his cool words, behind the personality that had grown accustomed to the pain of fame and expectations and played them in a way only Haechan could, once he realized he’d never be free of them.

His eyes trailed to Haechan, who was looking at Yangyang with an indecipherable expression which Renjun was pretty sure meant that he’d come to the same realization as Renjun had. Sensing his gaze, Haechan’s eyes slid to meet his and Renjun nodded in confirmation at what he saw in them, motioning towards Jaemin, who turned to them simply out of reflex and grinned when he caught the expression on Haechan’s face.

Haechan cleared his throat, and all the shocked eyes in the room turned to him, except Yangyang’s, the boy still coming down from his sudden rage. He grinned, ever so dramatic, and walked forward, clapping a jaunty hand on Yangyang’s shoulder. “Great speech. I approve. You’re allowed to call me Haechan from now on. Donghyuck is only for the losers that can’t keep their mouths to themselves. And people who aren’t our close friends, sorry. But back to your grand declaration just now- I have just one problem with it.”

 _“What?”_ Yangyang hissed, screwing his eyes shut, and Jeno frowned, as if he wasn’t sure why Haechan was acting like this when they’d been so friendly just moments prior, and Renjun laid a warning hand on his arm before he misunderstood anything. Jeno stilled where he was, but kept frowning at the scene, ready to jump out and protect his friend the second he thought Renjun couldn’t be trusted any longer.

Rather than be hurt, Renjun was simply touched by his dedication to his friend. It was exactly how Haechan acted around him and Jaemin and exactly how they acted around him in turn. It was a sentiment he understood very well.

“I mean, it’s kind of sad you haven’t asked us at all after the lunchroom incident- well, the first one at least. Why don’t you try again and see what our answer is?”

Jeno and Yangyang gaped.

“Hey,” Haechan shrugged, “it’s not like answers don’t change. And, like I said, I liked your speech back there. So go ahead and ask again and see what your answer is. Unless, of course, you don’t want to work with us anymore, which, understandable after what we put you through. Which’ll it be?”

Yangyang glanced over to Jeno and Renjun could see the silent conversation they were having, although he didn’t know the contents of their conversation, and for a second he thought they’d really say no, after everything that had happened this day alone.

But then Yangyang asked, expression firm and eyes burning, “Will you help us with our Musical Composition project?”

And, of all things, Haechan’s expression softened and he smiled. “We haven’t been the best to you, but you’ve been taking it like a champ- yeah, we’ll do it with you. We’re sorry for everything, Yangyang, Jeno.”

 _Haechannie_ , Renjun thought, _you’ve finally fulfilled your requirements, I think_.

~

“You’re allowed to call me Haechan too, you know,” Haechan had said, after everything had died down and they were about to part.

Jaemin followed up with a quick, “The others call me Nana sometimes too,” and he felt as if something was sliding into place, somewhere he didn’t know he needed. And now, sitting with Renjun, Jeno, and Yangyang, the latter two looking more excited than the three of them has ever seen, he felt it a lot stronger.

Somewhere between their first meeting and today, he’d made a good decision.

“How would you guys feel about singing in Chinese?” Yangyang asked, far more boyish than Jaemin had ever seen him. Next to him, Renjun perked up.

“That sounds interesting!” He cast a glance at Jaemin and Haechan and it was unfair, because Jaemin already felt himself melting at the look he gave him, even if he didn’t know the first thing about Chinese, and if he melted, Haechan would too.

Too late.

“We don’t know the first thing about Chinese,” Haechan said for him, “but if you can teach us, we can do it, sure.”

Renjun and Yangyang cheered, and then looked at each other as if discovering the other person for the first time, and Jaemin wasn’t sure he liked the look they were sharing between them, as if he was about to find himself staring up at the ceiling of his room sometime soon wondering why he’d let them talk him into this (never mind the fact that he’d just caved instantly when Renjun settled one of his _look_ s on him).

“We already have many ideas,” Jeno spoke up, but we kind of settled on these two songs that reminded us the most of you.”

“You made them already?” Jaemin asked, surprised.

“Yeah, well,” Jeno said, looking sheepish at the awe, “when you go through that much in that short of a time period, inspiration tends to come rolling. Just- read these and tell us if you like them.”

He and Yangyang each took out several pieces of paper and spread it across them, and Jaemin didn’t know what he was expecting, but it wasn’t this.

From the looks of him, Yangyang looked much more like a sentimental guy than Jeno, who was generally of a much stockier build, but the songs they wrote couldn’t have been more different than their initial impressions. He supposed it suited what he knew of their personalities. Yangyang had Haechan levels of fire in him, from what he’d seen that day in the lunchroom, whereas Jeno always hung back, looking to soothe the fire or lighten it up again if it was doused, with gentle winds.

Like Renjun.

Maybe that was why he liked him so much.

And, woah- he’d have to stop that line of thought right there. That was going nowhere.

“ “I so hate to be controlled”,” Renjun breathed, citing lyrics from Yangyang’s piece, _Take Off_ , and looked at Yangyang in wonder, “you- you really got our personalities down.”

Yangyang just smirked. “Like Jeno said. That much stress in that little time lets you know a lot.”

Jaemin kept his head down and read over his lines in Jeno’s song. _Dear Dream_. Was it a tribute to them? If so, it was the sweetest thing he’d ever heard in relation to them.

 _We were someone’s dream, we don’t forget each other_ , it said, and, _when it’s too hard, I’ll be your green light_.

When did Jeno start to understand what was going on in their hearts? The song hit surprisingly close to home, something nostalgic and new, all at the same time. Like rebirth.

Was this what it was like working with people who actually knew them and made songs that they’d genuinely be interested in singing? Back when he, Renjun, and Haechan were famous… the songs they’d sung had never felt anything like these.

These felt like they were meant for them.

“You’re singing with us?” Haechan asked.

Jeno nodded. “Unless that’s a problem? Our requirement is that we need at least five voices, to up the difficulty, and we figured it’d be easier if we sang our own songs than have more people fill in. Plus, we wrote these after everything that happened recently, most of which we were involved in together, so we kind of thought we’d have better chemistry with each other in this song than anyone else. But, again, if you want, we can get other people.”

Jaemin kicked at Haechan under the table. He didn’t know what he was thinking, considering the two were Music Composition majors, but he’d never once thought of the possibility that they’d be singing with them and the thought that Haechan could take away his chance of hearing their voices- _Jeno’s_ voice- had him wanting to scream out all the negatives in the world. Haechan gave him a playful glance, as if he was about to say that he’d rather sing with other voices just to toy with him, but Jaemin glared and he just grinned back, sticking out a tongue before turning back to the other two.

“Nah, it’s alright, I was just surprised since we’ve never done something like this before. It seems kind of… like, more intimate? I like it. We all do.”

"We're planning on making _Take Off_ the Chinese one, if it wasn't clear already." Yangyang beamed and Jaemin got to see that full-faced smile that shocked him so much the first time again, and he just melted. He was so weak for happy smiles like that.

Just- everything about the songs he was about to sing and his new friends, and the fact that the Dream Trio were finally going to sing again- it all had him feeling so weak.

He liked the feeling.

~

Recording was a lot more fun than Renjun remembered. The studio was constantly filled with tones Renjun hadn’t heard in a long time and he teared up a little, especially when they were singing Dear Dream, something about the song feeling as if it were a gift from Jeno to them, a, _thank you for everything,_ and, _I think I’ll like being your friend_.

But aside from that, there were constant words of appreciation being thrown around, between him, Haechan, and Jaemin, that their skills hadn’t deteriorated too much, despite how long it had been since they’d used them- Kun and Renjun attributed it to their youth and Jaemin rolled his eyes at them- and from Jeno and Yangyang as well. The kind of compliments that kept them going, like all producers tended to use, but also genuine, with a sparkle in their eyes as if they could believe they got to work with such beautiful voices.

It filled Renjun’s heart in a way his fan club never had the ability to.

And singing with the very people that had composed their music was a different experience altogether. He knew they’d both be rapping from what he saw on the sheets they’d be given, but hearing their voices in the studio was a different matter altogether.

It kind of made no sense that the Dream Trio was so well-known for their voices if Jeno and Yangyang had voices like _that_. Their rapping was on par with Jaemin’s, Mark’s, Johnny’s, and even Johnny’s boyfriend, Taeyong’s.

It kind of made him feel blessed to be working with people as talented as them. Not only did they rap well, they even had a few singing lines here and there which sounded phenomenal, and they’d made every aspect of the songs that sounded more and more amazing the more they were put together…

Renjun seriously held a lot of respect in his heart for them.

It made him belt out his vocals a little harder for them whenever his turn to record came around.

~

It took them until Thanksgiving to finish both songs, because the Dream Team proved to be just as perfectionist about their music as Jeno and he were.

It was really fun.

It had been a long time since his friend group had expanded by so much and Yangyang could feel himself caring less and less about controlling his behavior when no one dared to come near him after it became official that the Dream Team were all their friends and his gigantic outburst in the lunchroom. He felt carefree in a way he hadn’t in a long time, free to be his real self in public and not within the confines of his friends’ homes, where he knew he’d be safe, no matter what.

But when he _was_ in his friends’ houses, like now, in Kun’s house for a Thanksgiving party, was when he was at his rowdiest.

Or so he had been before Kun had roped him into helping him cook so he wouldn’t destroy anything outside of Kun’s parental view.

But Kun had left a few seconds ago, telling him to dice the onions while he went to check on the others with a firm expression that told him he’d be in serious trouble if he tried to pull anything other than what Kun expected of him.

Yangyang had been in enough trouble for a year. And he couldn’t escape the vision of Kun threatening him with a knife, for some reason.

It was genuinely terrifying.

So he stared contemplatively down at the knife and cutting board for a while, not sure if he trusted himself to be able to successfully wield a knife somehow without cutting himself, like Kun somehow never did. He wasn’t sure if he could, but he knew if he did nothing, he’d get in trouble with Kun and that was the last thing he wanted, so with a defeated sigh, he picked up the knife and set to work.

Within seconds, he was crying.

Heavily.

Because he was an idiot and tried to wipe his eyes when they first started tearing up and the onion’s juices got into his eye in an instant and now he was blindly fumbling at his face, trying not to touch his burning eyes as tears streamed freely down his face.

He really hoped he managed to put the knife on the cutting board and it wasn’t on the floor somewhere, waiting for him to trip on it because he couldn’t seem much other than colors and vague shapes with how hard it was to keep his eyes open past the tears and the burning.

Through his mad scramble to find a tissue somewhere, he heard footsteps approaching the kitchen and froze at the thought of Kun finding him like this.

It turned out to be Haechan instead. He couldn’t make out his facial features, but over the process of recording, he’d learned that Haechan was probably the only person that could take all the bright colors he liked to wear and not only make them look _good_ on him, but just make them look fashionable in _general_.

It was somewhat of a miracle.

But the determined expression Yangyang managed to catch on his face after a tremendous effort of wiping his tears with his sleeves without pressing hard enough to generate more tears made him feel somewhat of the opposite, as if he should go find a table to hide under rather than figure out what Haechan wanted to do with such an expression on.

It was almost as terrifying as the sight of Kun with a knife in his hand, and got a little more terrifying each step Haechan took closer to him, crossing the space between them in a matter of less than two seconds.

Yangyang suddenly regretted every decision in his life that lead him to this moment.

Haechan stared down at him with that terrifying determined expression of his for a few more seconds before both of his hands landed smack on each of Yangyang’s cheeks and he pulled him in for a kiss.

Yangyang blinked, tears beginning to stream down eyes face again, as he was kissed within an inch of his life with a sort of fervor that made him wonder if Haechan was trying to prove something or just eat him up for some vicious satisfaction of his.

He really wouldn’t be surprised if it was the second option.

“Haechannie, let’s not disturb- oh.”

That was Mark’s voice.

Yangyang was probably screwed. Not everyone was as weirdly accepting of kissing people outside of their relationship as Renjun and Jaemin were.

Haechan pulled away and frowned. “It’s not working.”

Yangyang had no idea what he was talking about when his boyfriend was _right there_.

As it turned out, Mark had no idea what he was talking about either. “What’s going on here?” He asked, sounding utterly confused. Yangyang understood the feeling. “Is Yangyang suddenly part of our relationship? But I thought he wasn’t looking for those, like, ever?”

Good God, Mark really sounded as if he believed what he was saying, just confusing himself.

“What?” Haechan asked, eyebrows furrowing. “No, where’d you get that from?”

_Maybe he got it when he walked into the kitchen only to find you kissing me? Are you actually kind of dense?_

“I only love you, I don’t need anyone else. I just wanted to see if Renjun and Jaemin were the only ones who could kiss Yangyang.”

“Renjun and Jaemin kisse-” Mark cut himself off. “What?”

Yangyang couldn’t see it, with Haechan’s face turned away from him, no matter how close it still was to his own, but he knew Haechan was rolling his eyes.

“It’s a thing. You kiss Yangyang to cheer him up. But I don’t get it. He didn’t push me away, but he didn’t stop crying either. I don’t want to say Renjun was right, but what if Renjun’s right and I’ll be the only one who can’t kiss Yangyang out of the four of us?”

Oh. That was what this was about.

“Oh,” Mark said, sounding a lot less confused. He turned to Yangyang, concerned. “You upset about something? Wanna talk about it?”

And Yangyang really did try to explain what had happened, but what ended up coming out of his mouth sounded a lot like, “I have onions in my eyes.”

Mark and Haechan just stared at him.

He tried again, gesturing to the kitchen counter. “Onions.”

Mark got it before Haechan did. “Ah. Here’s a napkin. Did you touch your eyes?”

Yangyang nodded in shame. Haechan snorted.

“So that was all for nothing? I was trying really hard, you know?”

“Trying hard for what?” Renjun’s voice sounded from the entryway to the kitchen, and Haechan turned to him with a triumphant expression.

“Ha! You said I couldn’t kiss him because I didn’t fill some requirements or whatever, but he just let me kiss him! There were no requirements after all!”

Renjun just stared at him pityingly. “Haechannie… You fulfilled those requirements a long time ago.”

_“What?”_

~

Jeno didn’t know how he found himself welcoming the guests in at the front door, but for some reason he was there, Jaemin to the wall opposite to him, both of them waiting, bored, for the next people to arrive.

When they did, Jaemin jumped up excitedly. And then gaped as one of the three people kissed another one in the group.

Jeno just turned away, to give them the privacy Jaemin couldn’t seem to understand they deserved, mentally whacking the boy on the upside of his head. Really, for how ridiculously charming Jaemin could be sometimes, other times he was just startlingly blunt. Or just plain annoying.

(All versions of him never failed to make Jeno blush, but he wasn’t about to admit that to anyone anytime soon.)

“Hyung, weren’t you dating Taeyong-hyung?” Jaemin asked, and Jeno allowed him look back to where Jaemin was pointing to the most statue-like of the bunch, although, really everyone who came to the party looked as if they could join the runway.

The tall one just raised his eyebrow. “Yes?”

“But you just kissed Doyoung-hyung! First of all, I never thought you’d have the guts to do that, but second, what the heck?”

“Hey, what do you mean you never I’d have the guts to kiss Doyoung?”

Taeyong spoke over him. “Me, Johnny, and Doyoungie are all dating each other now. It’s called a polyamorous relationship, we decided it would be better for us after a lot of careful discussion. So don’t worry too much, Jaemin-ah, Johnny hasn’t been cheating on me.”

“Hey!” Johnny exclaimed again. “Who do you think I am, that I’d cheat on the love of my life?”

Taeyong simply just gave them a smile as if saying, ‘ _See?_ ’ and Doyoung laughed.

“I knew there was something weird between Johnny-hyung and Taeyong-hyung and Doyoung-hyung, but I didn’t think it would end up like that…” Jaemin trailed off after the three settled inside. His gaze slid to Jeno and he felt his face burn.

(Maybe he _would_ be admitting certain hidden feelings to certain people sometime soon.)

When he and Jaemin returned to the living room, because Johnny, Taeyong, and Doyoung turned out to be their last guests for the evening, he caught sight of something he never would have expected to see in his life.

Mainly, Kun staring between his three new guests, a blush growing on his cheeks.

“What the heck?” Jaemin said, sounding disgruntled next to him. “That’s exactly how Johnny-hyung and Taeyong-hyung used to look at Doyoung-hyung. A four-way…? No way, that’s like all the parents are getting together! We’ll never be free of them if they do that!”

Jeno just snorted, ignoring the part of him that had started to hope something very dangerous as soon as the so-called polyamorous couple- triad? Four-ad? Quadruple… Quadruplet? Jeno wasn’t as good at math as Renjun and Haechan were. Whatever they were, they were giving Jeno thoughts he’d tried to force down about a certain couple he was friends with.

It’d been difficult, but he’d been gifted with a face that could pull off spectacularly blank expressions at times.

Although he felt like Renjun and Jaemin knew exactly what was going through his mind in those moments. God knows Yangyang did. He’d been bothering Jeno to do something about his feelings with subtle jabs very, very often, and Jeno really didn’t want to think he was being that obvious about them.

But then again… the way Renjun and Jaemin acted around him gave him hope that they weren’t one-sided. He couldn’t count the amount of times Renjun leaned into him when Jeno ran his hands through his hair absentmindedly or Jaemin just stopped walking along the street when he and Jeno caught sight of each other, looking for all the world as if he was trying to just drink the sight of Jeno in.

Just thinking about it made Jeno’s heart flutter.

His heart fluttering thoughts were interrupted in the next second by Kun’s voice calling out in his direction, apparently over his fascination with the newcomers. “Jeno and Jaemin, why don’t you help Renjun in the kitchen? There isn’t much to do I just want you to watch over everything until they’re done cooking.”

“And you can’t do that yourself?” Jaemin called back.

“I have to- uh- entertain the guests.” Was his answer and nope, Jeno surmised, he wasn’t over his fascination at all.

Regardless, Jaemin grabbed his hand and pulled him over to the kitchen and Jeno’s heart began pounding in his ears all over again, with the acute feeling that something was about to happen.

But nothing really happened when they got there.

They talked for a bit and eventually got bored at the absolute lack of activity to entertain them and just ended up cuddling together by the oven, heads on each other’s shoulders and eyes closed, not sleeping, but peacefully just taking in the sounds around them.

It was their normal behavior and Jeno didn’t know what exactly he was expecting, but this wasn’t bad either. It was comfortable, and Jeno loved comfort as much as he loved his friends and his major.

Footsteps stopping right in front of them made Jeno crack one eye open to find Kun staring down at them with an unreadable expression on his face.

To his side, Jaemin gave him a baleful, petty glare. “You like Johnny-hyung, Taeyong-hyung, and Doyoung-hyung, don’t you?”

A steady blush rose to his cheeks. “I don’t know if I can go so far as to say I _like_ them- I only just met them after all- but I certainly don’t _mind_ the thought of them, no.”

“Are you sure that will work out though, ge?” Renjun asked from Jeno’s other side. “There’s three other people in that relationship. Won’t it be difficult?”

The unreadable expression came back over Kun’s face and he crouched down to their level. “I think that, if I really ended up liking them enough to try it, I would. I think it would take a lot of communication and effort on all sides, but if I really wanted it, I would do my best to make it happen. I’d think my happiness is as important as theirs and even if they’re happy now, me joining them would be able to give them a sort of happiness the don’t have already.”

Something shifted in the air and suddenly, Renjun and Jaemin’s heads on his shoulders felt heavier, as if the truth in the air held physical value and was pressing down on them, their lungs, urging them to talk, to say the one thing they each knew they wanted but were too afraid to say. Kun’s expression cleared, as if he suddenly understood the same thing the three of them had, and he stood up with a half-surprised, half-satisfied expression on his face. “I see my work here is done. I’m just going to turn everything off and then go. You kids can talk after I leave, okay?”

They remained silent for a while even after Kun left.

Jeno knew that if one of them didn’t start talking, none of them ever would, so he took a deep breath. If neither of them could say anything, then he’d be the one to start this off.

“So,” he started, stopped, then cringed. He was never the best at words. It was one of the reasons he tended to resort to kissing Yangyang to make him feel better. He tried again. “So. I’m not sure if you know it- well you probably do- but- ugh, okay. I like you. Both of you. A lot. And, like, the _"_ _I want to shower you with scarves and mittens and everything warm because that’s how you make me feel"_ sort of like. So… yeah.”

There was a moment of silence in which Jeno panicked, wondering if he’d ruined everything after all, before Jaemin cleared his throat to Jeno’s left.

“Yeah, I- we figured. I mean, we know. We haven’t exactly been the most subtle about it, the three of us and Yangyang’s been kind of indirectly pushing us to ask you out because we’re the couple here and it’s harder for you to ask than it is for us… So, yeah, that’s me saying we like you too. Because we do. A lot. The mittens type and all that.”

Jeno could feel his cheeks burn. Realistically, he knew they’d shared his affections because, as Jaemin had said, none of them were ever really subtle about it, but Jeno hadn’t dared to let himself dream too much, in case he was misreading everything and, well- it was nice to officially know he wasn’t misunderstanding the atmosphere in the air sometimes when all three of them got together.

Renjun turned his head on Jeno’s right shoulder to look at the both of them. “Do you want to try it then? Polyamory? I won’t lie, this isn’t the first time I’ve heard of it, I even started looking it up more and more on the Internet after we met you… I think it’s doable. If- If we want to try.”

And Jeno really, really wanted to try.

“I-” he tried to say, but suddenly, his throat felt incredibly dry. He swallowed and tried again. “I’d like that very much.”

“Yeah,” Jaemin said, rising to his knees to face the both of them, “I’d like that too.”

The look he was wearing was so piercing, it made both Renjun and Jeno shiver. He turned to Jeno, who froze.

“Can I kiss you, Jeno-yah?” He asked, expression serious in a way Jeno had never seen it be before and he nodded weakly, only to find himself frozen again when Jaemin leaned in, expression still unnervingly intense-looking, until they were finally kissing and, _oh_ , Jeno was probably in Heaven right now. He felt Renjun’s hand grip his own, before bringing it up his he could kiss the back of it and- yeah, that was it.

Jeno was definitely in Heaven right now.

~

Jeno and Yangyang’s professor looked down at the CDs in his hand. “Three? You did the extra credit as well? I have to say, I didn’t think anyone would be able to. Producing two songs for five voices is already hard enough as is.”

“Are you saying you won’t take it, Professor?” Yangyang asked cheekily, reaching for the CDs, and Professor Moon sharply snapped his hand shut.

“No, I’m saying I’m proud of you. If anyone could do it, it would be you two.” Seeing their surprised expressions, he chuckled. “What? You think I haven’t been seeing the effort you’ve been putting into your work all semester? I have to make sure though, this last track, _Back 2 U_? It says you have seven voices in it… I don’t think you’ve been trained to deal with that level of difficulty yet, I assigned five voices to you all knowing it was the utmost difficulty some students could take. And looking through what you’ve written, I recognize the three names that you used in your other two tracks, but Yangyang, one top of the fact that I don’t see yours, I’m seeing three new names- are you sure you want to hand this in to me? I can’t guarantee how our grade will turn out afterwards, no matter how much I admire the fact that you challenged yourselves this much.”

“We knew how much of a risk it was, but we put a lot of effort in and we’re actually pretty proud of it,” Jeno spoke up, visibly surprising their professor.

“The three new names you see are some friends of ours who promised we could use their voices before we ended up using the ones we did and, well, we had leftover time, so we decided to make a song for them too. Except it turned out to be a love- well, break up song- so I didn’t really want to sing it too much.”

The second they mentioned they’d had leftover time, their professor started looking more worried about the CDs he held in his hand, and Jeno rushed to placate him.

“That’s our extra credit one, so if it really turns out that bad, we won’t actually be losing any points, we just won’t get any extra ones. And, well, if all the tracks end up worse than we thought, then I’m sure you could at least give us one or two extra credit points to help, no matter how bad we did? So it’ll be fine. You kind of look like you’re contemplating giving us extra time, but if we ended up doing badly with the amount of time you gave us, we probably aren’t going to do much better with more time. There’s nothing we can do at this point other than just hope it turned out as good as we thought it did, right?”

Professor Moon sighed. “I can’t believe you kids are the ones trying to reassure me, your professor. And I can’t believe you just turned down a chance for extra time on an assignment as big as this. And that you just suggested to me how I could grade your very own assignment. You children, really…”

He just sighed again. Yangyang grinned. The door to the lecture hall opened.

“Oh, hello professor,” a voice called smoothly, and Jeno’s heart skipped a beat in his chest, before beginning to race happily. Yangyang’s grin grew. “We’re just here to pick up our boyfriend.”

“Your boyfriend… -s?” Professor Moon asked, looking confusedly between Jeno and Yangyang.

“Nope,” Jaemin replied, forever confident, “our _boyfriend_.”

Jeno blushed crimson and quickly bowed goodbye to his professor before speed walking to the door in hopes that he could leave before he was embarrassed anymore in front of a professor he actually kind of liked. To his utmost surprise, Renjun leaned up with a cheeky grin that was oddly familiar and gave him a quick peck on his lips, then left him gaping as he pecked Jaemin as well before tossing a wave to Yangyang and dragging both his boyfriends away.

Yangyang watched them with a satisfied grin on his face. “I taught Renjun well.”

Professor Moon just gaped.

“Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go catch up with my friends… Bye!”

By the time he caught up with the other three Haechan had somehow joined the group and was talking about something Yangyang would never understand.

“Renjun and Jaemin decided to take up new minors today.”

“On top of Renjun’s Linguistics and Jaemin’s Art Administration majors?” Yangyang asked incredulously.

“Yup.” Haechan nodded. “Chinese and Musical Theater respectively. Renjun has officially managed to become the most overworked student on our campus.”

Jeno looked worried. “Will you two be okay?”

“You act as if Haechannie doesn’t take two majors.” Jaemin scoffed. “It’s okay, we’re all doing the Human Resource Management together, so if we don’t consider that, then we’re basically just taking on the workload we would have had if the three of us weren’t doing Human Resource Management together.”

“Speaking of which, I’m glad Haechan didn’t take something else on. Renjun we know can handle the workload, especially with all of us here to keep himself from working too hard, but Haechannie… I’m not too sure I want to see you taking more than two majors and a minor.”

“Yeah,” Haechan sighed, “I’m already living a miracle, what with my parents letting me take Music Business as a major. I’m not going to pull anything else until graduation, when I finally tell them I’m not taking over their business. Maybe I’ll start up a studio. For music and whatnot. And y’all could work for me. We could call it… let’s see. Neo Culture Technology. NCT for short. A company that makes music that crosses language barriers and standard musical rules, because you’ll all be working for me and you’re actually amazing, so there’s no way we wouldn’t be able to pull it off. Something new and exciting.”

And even though they were talking about it as if it were a pipe dream now, they all knew that now that Haechan was thinking about it, he would find a way to make it happen. Honestly, it didn’t sound like a bad idea at all.

In fact, it was quite ideal.

“Let’s do it.” Someone said, and no one was quite sure who, or if had been one person at all, but they couldn’t hold the giddy grins off their faces at the thought that they could create yet another happy ending together for themselves, always together, even in the future.

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave comments, I would love to know if you think I've fulfilled the prompt or not or just your general thoughts about it! And, lol, SEVENTEEN's Happy Ending came on when I finally finished it, it was obviously fate.


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